𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕖 - Ⓓ Ⓝ Ⓕ

~30~

When George turned off the water to the shower, the water had long gone cold.

He stood there motionlessly for a second, staring blankly ahead of him, and wasn't entirely in his mind. Strangely, he felt numb, and couldn't feel any pain from his surgical wound. Maybe the pills had worked, despite the unknown amount he consumed.

He should take some more later.

Sighing, he left the shower and reached for his towel, quickly drying his hair and chest before dumping the towel on his head, leaning against the basin of the sink as he continued to go through multiple thoughts in his mind. As much as he wanted to go back to bed and sleep, he knew that he couldn't, especially because he still had to clean up the mess he made, and then apologise to Dream for ruining his morning.

His side ached expectantly, and he pressed his hand over the left side of his abdomen, running his fingers carefully over the area. He lifted his head and looked up at the ceiling, his eyes closed as the towel fell to his neck, and couldn't seem to soothe the pain in his side like Dream did. Dream's touch had a different effect on George – an effect that George couldn't replicate, even though he wished he could. Maybe Dream's touch was more gentle, somehow. Maybe more loving, and George guessed that might be the case. How was he supposed to love something that gave him nothing but pain and trouble?

It was possible that Dream wasn't loving the wound, but was trying to love George, instead, since he obviously couldn't love himself. He was being gentle with George, and looking after him as much as he could, all because he thought that George wouldn't look after himself – that George chooses to not look after himself.

Maybe he was right.

George looked down when he felt something soft flop against his foot, and smiled softly when he saw a bundle of ginger fur. Careful to not jostle Patches, he quickly finished drying himself off, taking off the plastic protectors from his wound, and then looked around the bathroom for some clothes he could throw on, but found nothing. Dream must have done the washing.

He wrapped the towel around himself, feeling the cold prickle his skin, and then bent over, scratching Patches lightly behind her ears, expecting her to purr quietly like she usually did. However, Patches remained silent, and George frowned at her unresponsiveness. He gently stroked her again, this time over her side, and her tail flickered in front of George; a warning.

The brunette bit his lip, and ran his thumb over her ear again, stopping the irritated sway of her tail. He couldn't help but notice how Patches' behaviour was unusual, and she seemed overly exhausted, panting lightly as she curled around herself.

Anyone could notice that something was wrong, and her heavy breathing was scaring George. His mind clouded with thoughts of Luca as he watched Patches breathe, and couldn't help but remember the way Luca was breathing oddly, which caused him to take his cat to the Vet. It was then when he was told that Luca was sick and that it was incurable, and he had to watch his best friend's little life leave as his kitten died. Luca was only a year old, and had been George's reassurance of life the whole time he was alive, so when he was no longer keeping George company, was no longer depending on George – George felt caught in a web, and was completely useless.

A spike of panic struck through George's heart, and he quickly bundled Patches into his arms, being careful of her stomach, since she seemed to be sensitive in that area. He hoped that Patches was alright, and that she was probably just a little bit sick, and that nothing was seriously wrong and untreatable. She meowed weakly against George, clearly upset at being manhandled, but she didn't scratch him or wiggle in his arms in an attempt to get away. She was too tired to move.

George's heart sank to his stomach, and he sprung to his feet and threw the bathroom door open after making sure that he wasn't showing too much skin. He took a step out of the room and then called out for Dream, massaging one of Patches small paws between his fingers, just like he does to all his pets.